Clay-pipe-handling device



G. W. GANG CLAY PIPE HANDLING DEVICEV 5 Shee .s-Sheet* 1 Filed July 25 utu.

GWW WGW INVENTOR.

March 18 1924.

G. W. GANG CLAY PIPE HANDLING DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

TORNEI Filed July 25 1921 Geary@ WGW,

Malrch 18 1924.

- .1,486,877 G. W. GANG CLAY PIPE HANDLING DEVICE Filed Ju 1y 25, 1921 3shams-sheet I IN V EN TOR.

ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 18, 1924.

GEORGE W. GANG, or M nrivnnn, oHio.

CLAY-PIPE-HANDLING DEVICE.

Application led July 25, 1921. Serial No. 487,496.

To all 'whom t may concern.' Y

Be itknown that I, GEORGE W. GANG, a citizen of the United States,residing at Malvern, in the county of Carroll and State of Ohio, haveinvented a new and useful Clay-PipeHandling Device, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to clay pipe handling devices and particularly toa machine of this class designed to receive the newly made pipe from theformer, turn it and convey it to a point convenient for removal to thedrying room.

The principal object of the invention is to provide means for turningthe lower kor flanged endof the pipe as it comes from the former,uppermost into position for drying.

Another object is to provide means for removingthe socket board uponwhich the pipe has been deposited by the former, from beneath the saidformer.

A further Objectis to provide a device capable of handling` severalsections of pipe at the same time, thereby increasing the speed ofmanufacture and effecting a large saving of time.

A still further object is the reduction of a large percentage of themanual labor now employed in this operation of pipe manufacture.

Vith these and other objects in view, the invention consists of thenovel construction' and arrangement of parts hereinafter devscribed,illustrated in vthe accompanying drawings and particularly pointed outin the claims, it being understood that various changes in the form,proportions, size and minor details of construction may be made withinthe scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit, orsacriiicing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings, in which similar numerals of reference indicatecorresponding parts, Fig. l, is a side elevation of my machine, theturning mechanism being shown in full lines in the position preparatoryto turning the pipe and in dotted lines in thelposition assumed at theinstant the turning is completed.

.Fig. 2, is a sectional plan view taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3, is a transverse section taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. l andlooking in the direction of the arrows. A

Fig. 4, is a detail perspective of a portion of the cradle arms and thebifurcated yyoke for .shifting the said arms.`

In the manufacture of terra cotta pipe, the newly made sections comingfrom the former are deposited with the flanged end down on a pallet orlboard, commonly called a socket board. The uppermost'or straight end ofthe section isrough anduneven as it comes from `the former and itistherefore necessary to trim this endl to make the section the properlength and to produce a clean, square finish for the said end, byemploying ,a cut oiil mechanism. Vhenthe upper end of the pipe has beenproperly trimmed, the socket board is then lifted at one side and thesection of pipe is tilted over onto a cradle which is mounted ontrunnions located at its longitudinal center. rlfhe cradle is then swungto bring the pipe section into horizontal position and by continuing theswing in the same direction, the fianged or lower end of the pipe as itVcarne fromthe former, is brought uppermost andthe straight end isturned down and a pallet, somewhat similar to the socket board, isplaced at the lower end and the pipe section tilted off the cradle andleft standing on .the pallet, flanged end up. The section is now readyfor removal to the drying room.

When the facts aretakeninto consideration that, the section of pipe isgreen or soft during the turning operation and that on large sections,such as are employed in building sewers, each section .weighsapproximately five hundred pounds, it may be readily understood thatconsiderable care must be exercised in this process. VWhen it is furtherunderstood that the placing of the section on the cradle and theupsetting thereof is all done manually, the amount of man power employedwill be apparent.

In the present invention, both the number of workmen necessary and thelength of time required to .turn the pipe, are materially reduced.

At 1 and 2 I have shown lateral supporting members upon which aresecured longitudinal spaced channel bars 4: and 5. A plurality oflateral rollers 6 are journaled to rotate between the channel bars. Atf?is a pair of spacedupright members which are arranged to straddle thechannel bars and spaced, from the said uprights 7 is a simiar pair ofuprights shown at 8. A laterally disposed shaft 9, is journaled torotate in the uprights 8. A key-way l0 is formed in the shaft 9 for itsentire length, the said keyway being for a purpose to be hereinafter Setout.

At the longitudinal center of the shaft 9 is keyed an arm 1l, which armnormally' eX- tends horizontally and to the rear of the said shaft. rlhesaid arm is biilurcated at its rear end and between the saidbifurcations is pivotally secured the upper end orn a link l2, the saidlink extending downwardly and forwardly and being connected at its lowerend to a bearing 14 formed on the upper side of a yoke 15. The arms 1Gof the yoke extend forwardly and are secured by bolts or other1 suitablemeans to the rear extremities of dat bars 17 which lie, and are adaptedto slide upon the upper faces of the channel bars 4 and Adjacent theforward extremities of the bars 17 and upon the upper faces thereof, are#formed recesses 18 into which are iitted leaf springs 19 which arearranged to exert a pressure against pvoted pawls 20 so that the saidpawls will normally lie with their free ends projecting beyond the innersides of the bars to which they are respectively attached. Equidistantlyspaced from the Jforward end of each of the bars 17 is a .second pawl 0rcatch 2l, similar in every respect to the lirst described pawls andbeing similarly spring pressed to project beyond the inner lines of thebars 17.

ltotatably mounted on the shaft 9 and equidistantly spaced from the arml1 is a pair of downwardly projecting yoke members 22 and 24 and betweenthe arms of the yoke members and carried by the shaft 9, are arms 25 and26, respectively. Keyways 27 are formed in the said arms and keys 28 areseated in the said keyways and in the keyway l0 formed in the shalt 9,thus locking the said arms to the shalt. A keyway 30 is also formed ineach of the yokes 22 an d 24 and is designed to permit the keys 28 to beinserted This is accomplished by swinging the said yokes into a positiondianietrically opposite to that shown in Fig. 5, in which position thekeyways l0, 27 and 30 will all register one with the other. rll"he keys23 may then be inserted and the yokes 22 and 24 swung down into theposition shown in Fig. 5, thus locking the keys within the keyways 27.

'.lhe arms 25 and 26 will preferably be in the form of heavy droptorgings since each of them will be required to withstand lifting strainof several hundred pounds. The said arms extend forward from the shaft 9and are widened as shown in Fig. l, and to the inner side of each arm issecurely fastened one member 3l of the cradle. The members 3l are eachformed with a vertical concave recess,-which recesses, when broughttogether as shown in Fig. 2, form a substantially cylindrical spacecentrally thru the cradle. A 'pair of bars 32 is secured to the outer:tace of each cradle member, the Said bars being bent inwardly at theirextremities to form hooks as clearly shown in Fig. 3.

At the lower end of the yoke member 22 is formed an Y to which ispivotally attached by means oi y a bolt 34, one end olf a link 35. Thelink 35 extends outwardly and beyond the outer side ot the adjacentstandard 3 andis pivotally attached at its outer end to a lever 3G,which lever is pivoted l t its lower extremity to a bracket 37secured tothe standard. By this arrangement it will be seen that when the upperend of the lever 36 is pulled. outwardly and away from the standard, thelink 35 will the yoke 22 outwardly also sliding the arm 25 along theshaft 9 and carrying with it the member 3l of the cradle attached to thesaidarm. Y

A stud or pin 33 is secured to the rear side et the lever 36 and isarranged to project into a slot 39 formed in a link 40 which is pivotedat its upper extremity to a bracket 4l secured to the standard. Thelower eX- treinity et the link 40 is attached to one end oi. a.laterally extending rod 42, to the opposite end of which is attached alink 44 which extends upwardly and is pivotally secured at its upper toanother link 45 which is attached to the yoke 24. The link 44 is pivotedintermediate. its ends to a bracket 46 secured to the adjacent standard8. lt will thus be seen that when the lever 36 is pulled outwardly asabove described, the pin 38 operating within the slot 39,rwill cause thelink 40 to exert a. pull upon the rod 42, which will in turn rock thelink 44 and slide vthe yoke 24 outwardly. The arm 26 carrying itsattached member of the cradle will likewise be slid outwardly on theshaft 9. By reference to Fig. 3, it will be seen that by the arrangementot links and levers just described, the yokes 22 and 24 will each bemoved an equal distance from the lateral ev e center of the shaft 9 whenthe lever 3G is` pulled outwardly.

Referring now more especially to lligs. l and 3, a. shaft 47 isjournaled in bearings 48 carried by a Jframe supported on the standards7 and 8. A relatively small pinion 49 is carried on one extremity of theshaft 47 and is arranged to mesh with an idler pinion 5G mounted on oneof the standards 3, which idler in turn meshes with a relatively largergear 51 keyed to the shaft 9. A. pulley 52 is mounted on the end of theshaft 47 opposite the pinion and is driven by a belt 54 from anysuitable source et power, not shown,

such as an electric motor.

It will thus be seen that ,is rotated, the pinion A19,41'driving;thruthe idler v50, will cause` the large `gear 50 to rotate and revolve withit the shaft 9, which be- 1 vin order to return the cradleto its rstposition. This is accomplishedby means of a gear reversing clutch shownat 55, which clutch is located on the'shaft 47. `The shaft 47 will ofcourse be divided at the said clutch,

the end carrying the driving pulley 52` being connected tothedrivinglggear, Within the clutch while the end` carrying vthepinion 49may rotate independently of the firstl mentioned end and .is connectedto the driven gears within the clutch. The'said clutchwill be of anywell known construction common to gear reversing clutches for thispurpose and will be operated by the lever 56 working thru the links 57vand 58. i.

Fastened to the shaft 47 will also be a brake drum 59y upon whichwill,operate a brake band 60, controlled by a foot lever or pedal 61,which is connected to the brake band by a rod 62.15 The object of thesaid brake is to retard the movement of the cradle during the revolvingthereof, when the said cradle has passed dead center and startsdownward. This is Aespecially necessary when the cradle is carrying asection of pipe because of the great weight of the load.

The operation of my machine will be as follows; one of the socketboards, such as A, will be placed as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of thedrawings. In this position the socket board A is in direct verticalalinement beneath the discharge from the former, not shown, the underportion of the said board resting on the rollers 6. The pipe section,such as B, coming from the former will be deposited on the socket boardin the position shown in Fig. 1. The lever 56 is now moved to throw themechanism of the clutch 55 into neutral position, disengaging the drivengears connected to the driven section of the shaft 47. The power is thenapplied to the pulley 52, starting the driven end of the shaft torotate. The lever 56 is now moved to throw the mechanism of the clutchinto proper position to drive the gear 51 in the direction indicated bythe arrow in Fig. 1. This will, of course, rotate the shaft 9 in thesame direction and cause the arm 11 keyed to the said shaft to movedownwardly, the link 12 forcing the yoke 15 and sliding rods 17forwardly on the top faces of the channel bars 4: and 5. The pawls 20will be forced inwardly as they pass the socket board A, but will springback into extended position `onreaching the forward end of the saidsocket board, this being the limit of the forward movement of the rods17. The lever 56 is now moved to reverse `the direction of rotation ofthe shaft 9 and the arm 11 will consequently draw the yoke 15 andsliding rods 17 rearwardly, bringing with them the socket l board Abearing the pipe section B. When the arm 11 has returned to its startingposition, the board A will be occupying the position shown at-C in Figs.1 and 2 and the lever 56is once more moved into neutral thus stoppingfurther rotation of the shaft 9. The pipe section B is now positioned asindicated at D,- inwhich position the trimming mechanism, (not shown) isemployed to trim the upper end of the said section and a ioor board,substantially similar to the socket board, is positioned-as shown at 100on the upper end of the pipe.

Anothersocket board is now placed beneat-h the former and the lever 56again operated to slide the rods 17 forward. The pawls 20 will engagethe foremost socket board while the pawls 21 will have advanced to apoint tok similarly engage the second board. It will of course beunderstood that the arms 25 and 26 carrying thecradle members will bemoved into the dotted line position shown in Fig; l, each time the shaft9` is rot-atedl to move the rods 17 forward. Having now reached thisposition, when the rods 17 are at the limit of their forward movement onthe second stroke, the lever 36 will be pulled outwardly, moving thecradle members apart. When the lever 56 is again moved to reverse theshaft 9, the socket board at C will be moved to the position shown at Eand one of the members 31 of the cradle will descend on either side ofthe pipe section carried by the said board. The lever 36 is now movedinwardly, bringing the cradle members against the pipe section. Thein-turned hooks on the bars 32 on the cradle members will engage theunder side of the socket board and the upper side of the floor board,respectively, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. The shaft 9 is once morerotated and the section of pipe within the cradle is now lifted andcarried over the said shaft to the dot-ted line position of Fig. 1. Thelever 36 is once more operated to separate the cradle members and thepipe section is left standing in this position upon its floor board. Ifdesirable, a truck or other suitable conveyance may be placed inposition to receive the pipe from the cradle, for easy removal to thedrying room.

It will, of course, be understood that each time the socket boardcarrying the new made section of pipe is moved from beneath the former,another socket board is placed in position for the next section, thusmaking when it contains the section of pipe, the foot operated brake isprovided as above described, to enable the erator to retard the downwardmovement o the cradle.

' Having now described my invention, what keyed to said shaft, a cradlemember carried by each of said arms, means for sliding said arms towardeach other to enclose a pipe section with said lcradle members and meansfor sliding said arms apart to release said pipe section from saidcradle members. Y'

8. A- device of the character described vcomprising a rotatable shaft, apair of arms rotatably mounte slidably keyed to said shaft, a cradlemember carried by each of said arms and mov'- ableV therewith, a air ofyolres slidably and on said shaft, each of said arms being positionedbetween the 'bifurcations on one of said yokes and means for slidingsaid yokes toward and away from each other on said shaft.

4. A device of the character described comprising a rotatable shaft,pipe enclosing cradle members carried by said shaft and rotatabletherewith, an arm carried by said shaft, conveyor" means connected tosaid arm and arranged to move pipe sections intolposition to be enclosedby said cradle memers. Y

5. In a device of the character described a rotatable shaft, a vair ofyokes slidably mounted on said shall; and rotatable thereon, an armpositioned between the bifurcations of each of said yokes and rotatablewith said shaft, a cradle member carried by each of said arms, a pivotedlever and a plurality of links connecting said4 lever with said yokesand arranged to bring the cradle members together when the said lever ismoved in one direction and to slide said cradle members apart when thesaid lever ismoved in the opposite direction.

6. In a device of the character described, a shaft rotatable in eitherdirection, a cradle carried by said shaft and arranged to r0- tatetherewith, an arm secured to said shaft and connected to a reciprocatingconveyor, pawls carried by said conveyor and arranged to recede assaidconveyor moves forwardly and to engage'pallets bearing pipe sections assaid conveyor moves backwardly, conveying said'pipe sections by saidengagement.

In testimony that I claim the above, VI have hereunto subscribed myname.

GEORGE w. GANG'.

